The controversy over the senior Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS and Devipatan Divisional Commissioner, Durga Shakti Nagpal (IAS:2010:UP)’s alleged attempt to influence a civil judge intensified after the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court took a serious exception to the allegation.
The civil society members are now demanding Nagpal’s transfer and a high-level probe in the matter.
It all began after Gonda civil judge Shabina Khan wrote a letter to the district judge, on August 4, 2026, alleging that she received repeated phone calls while on leave on July 15 from the Devipatan Division Commissioner’s office. According to her, Commissioner Nagpal wanted to discuss a long-pending land dispute and asked about how long the judge intended to stay on leave. The judge said the “phone calls and the tone used amounted to interference”.
The judge also alleged that Nagpal even questioned her conduct and threatened to complain to the High Court and get the case transferred.
It was on August 21, when HC Judge Justice Syed Qamar Hasan Rizvi took a serious note of the allegation against the IAS officer, while hearing an application to transfer the case to another trial court.
The High Court observed that the pressure prima facie exerted by the IAS officer “obstructed the administration of justice”. Justice Rizvi held that the allegations could not be ignored as the tone of the alleged conversation showed the judge was being pressured and directed that the matter be placed before the appropriate Bench after seeking directions from the Chief Justice or the senior judge.
Nagpal has, however, maintained that she had not tried to discuss the merits of the case, and had only sought to know when the judge would resume hearing the case.
On the other hand, civil society activist and former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur said that he had sent a letter to the Chief Secretary demanding Nagpal’s transfer and an independent inquiry. Thakur also demanded clear protocols to be followed by officials while contacting judicial officers over pending cases.
The case is related to a dispute over the possession of some land between Local authorities and Jyoti Vidya Mandir school. The local authorities are insisting that the land was reserved for government use, and that a school was built over it illegally. The case has been pending since 1997.
The school recently sought the transfer of the case to a court outside the Devipatan division alleging that govt officials were threatening its office-bearers and putting pressure on the trial court to conduct the case in a manner favourable to them.
The High Court took a serious note of the matter while considering this transfer application.
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